Friday, May 6, 2016

Italy’s Carabinieri Now Have Two 505-hp Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglios

While we’re still waiting to drive the promised U.S.-spec model, Italy’s national military police force, the Carabinieri, just took delivery on two Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglios, the turbocharged V-6 model making 505 horsepower.

–

FCA donated the pair of top-spec Giulias, which have been assigned to ceremonial duties in Rome and Milan. The Carabinieri have both military and civilian duties in Italy and are not to be confused with the polizia, in national (Polizia di Stato), provincial, municipal, and regional forms. The closest American parallel might be to imagine Dodge had donated a pair of Hellcat Chargers to Homeland Security to ferry visiting dignitaries around D.C.. The Carabinieri also promise to use these cars for “special operations such as transporting organs and blood.” Well, if you’re waiting for those, it’d be good to know they’re coming in a hurry.

–

The cars have the 505-hp, 2.9-liter, direct-injected, 90-degree V-6 derived from the Ferrari 488GTB’s engine and a six-speed manual transmission sourced from Getrag. Listed top speed is 190 mph and 0-to-100 km/h comes up in 3.9 seconds, according to Alfa Romeo. The LED light bar, Carabinieri livery, and emergency lights are evident, while other special equipment includes a defibrillator, portable cooling units (for those organs, presumably), radio preparation, and an ODIN system (Occupational Disease Intelligence Network) that monitors the occupants to protect against fatigue and sleepiness. It’s also equipped to carry serious weaponry and has a pair of rechargeable LED flashlights for those times when “lighting them up” means something other than smoking the tires.

–

-Only a select few officers will be authorized to drive these machines, after they’ve proven themselves worthy by passing a mandatory driver training course at the circuit in Varano de’ Melegari taught by Alfa Romeo instructors. Interior fittings include police radio, a tablet computer on the passenger side, and switchgear to operate the lights and siren.In Italy, the Carabinieri cars are known colloquially as Gazelles, to distinguish them from the Polizia’s Panthers (unmarked cars, regardless of affiliation, are called Owls). The force has a long-standing relationship with Alfa Romeo dating back to the end of World War II, but both the Carabinieri and Polizia di Stato last year ordered a large fleet of SEAT Leóns, the first part of a contract calling for 4000 cars from the VW Group’s Spanish subsidiary. The León is essentially a Golf that speaks Spanish.

Alfa Romeo’s donation of these Giulia Quadrifoglios would seem to be a push to maintain its position as a preferred provider to Italy’s police. Over the years, the police have used Italian cars almost exclusively. The Carabinieri, Alfa noted, have previously employed the Alfa Romeo Alfetta, 90, 75, 155, 156, and 159. Of course, the Alfa Romeo model U.S. car-buffs most associate with Italian law enforcement is probably the Giulia Ti Super, in which an array of largely incompetent Polizia chased the Austin Minis driven by the protagonist thieves in the 1969 movie The Italian Job.